1. Field
Apparatuses and devices consistent with the following description relate to an input device, and more particularly, a touch panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Touch panels are one example of a type of input device that determines whether an input of a user has been received and detects the location of the input by sensing any touch thereon. A user may input data or signals to a touch panel by touching or pressing on the touch panel using a finger or a stylus pen, or the like. For example, a touch panels may be used in place of a mouse as a touch pad for a laptop computer or a netbook, or may be used in place of input switches for an electronic device. A touch panel may be formed in one body with a display. A touch panel installed on the display surface of a display such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), a cathode ray tube (CRT) or the like is generally referred to as a touch screen. A touch screen may be incorporated into a display as a display surface or may be additionally attached onto the display surface of a display.
In certain situations, touch panels may replace existing mechanical user input devices such as a keyboard, trackball, or mouse and also may allow for simple manipulations. Moreover, touch panels can provide various types of input buttons according to the types of application and/or over the course of the execution of applications. Touch panels have been widely used as input devices for various electronic devices such as an automated teller machine (ATM), an information trader, a ticket vending machine, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP), a digital camera, a portable games, a MP3 player, and the like.
Touch panels may be classified into resistive film-type touch panels, capacitive-type touch panels, ultrasonic-type touch panels, infrared-type touch panels, and the like. Each of these types of touch panels has its own advantages and disadvantages, and may be selectively used according to the purpose of use thereof or the types of applications. Touch panels capable of recognizing multi-touch inputs have been developed and have been widely employed in various portable electronic devices.
However, related art touch panels do not provide a sense of input similar to the sense that can be felt upon pressing a mechanical keypad. To provide a sense of input, a vibration motor may be installed below a touch panel. In this case, in response to an input being detected, the whole touch panel may be vibrated by the vibration motor. However, this type of vibration is still different from a sense of input that can be provided by a mechanical keypad.